Gossip Girlthis ain’t.
Even before its Sunday premiere, it hadpeople talking.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So this was originally an Israeli show.
Credit: HBO
How did you get involved in this and decide to adapt it?
So, I started talking about my own personal history with drugs.
I was a drug addict for many years and I’ve been clean for many years now.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
I was like, “Uh all right.”
And she said, you know, said “This is great.
Write the first script.”
And we kinda went from there.
When adults write teen shows, it can often come across as inauthentic.
How did you capture this generation?
No, I just wrote myself.
I just wrote myself as a teenager.
I think those feelings and memories they’re still extremely accessible to me.
So it’s not a hard reach.
This is a very different role for Zendaya.
What made her right for this?
There’s just something that I couldn’t get over.
She had this real vulnerability to her at times, and then a real toughness to her.
I had a meeting with her and we were just talking about life and various things.
In that moment, I thought oh, this is someone who has no ceiling.
She, as an artist, she can do anything.
She can go anywhere and she has a curiosity and a real drive to explore every aspect of it.
She’s willing to be pushed in that way.
I think what she does throughout the course of this series is astonishing.
She’s just a spectacular talent and a joy to work with.
You mentioned your mood boardwhat were your inspirations behind the look of this show?
We wanted it to have a real formality to it.
Otherwise, it could feel like there is a train going off the tracks.
This show is obviously very sexually explicit and there’s a lot of drug use.
Was it a challenge to find actors to sign up for this?
There’s always certain actors that are interested in certain things and other actors who aren’t.
I think a lot of credit goes to our casting directors.
Speaking to that, Hunter Schafer is so wonderful as Jules.
She was telling me you two collaborate together on this story.
What has it been like working with her?
We ended up sitting there talking about life and her experience and growing up for about 6-7 hours.
Just on a creative level, she’s an incredible artist.
And it’s been interesting working with her because she had had no prior acting experience.
That scene where she pulls the kitchen knife on the jock is incredible.
Oddly, that’s a true story.
I was the person who didn’t want to get the s beaten out of me.
This show will likely freak out a lot of parents.
Are you worried about that?
Do you think about it?
And young people will be like, “Yeah, that’s my life.”
I’m sure certain people will be freaked out by it and other people will relate to it.
And now, I think that gap has grown in a very significant way.
There’s no compass, there’s no one to kind of guide you one way or another.
Because it’s a brand-new world every five years.
It’s difficult, especially too if you’re struggling with addiction and battling those things.
Hopefully it’ll open up those means of communication.
Drake and his manager Future the Prince are executive producers on this.
What’s been their involvement?
So that’s been, we’ve been very grateful to have him and his team.
Are they producing new music for this?
You’ll find out.
